A: Eventually your friend needs to wire the money from his personal account to your personal account.

For any money that your friend plans on using from any of his business accounts, we need to see a contract of some type where a transaction occurred showing how he earned that money that is in his bank account. If possible, we would like to see the contract and if there are any customs or duties tax payments on the contract. As much documentation as possible showing a contract in which he earned the money.

For example, we want to submit each transaction separately. We will give you a hypothetical of what we would want to submit to US CIS to show how the EB – 5 gift transfer was earned legally. Contract between shipping company A and shipping company B for the amount of $150,000. Upon the purchase of four large containers, by shipping company B, which will then wire $150,000 to shipping Company A’s Business account.

The $150,000 earned in this contract was then wired to Mr. X’s Personal bank account.

As you can see in the above example, the EB 5 source of funding needs to be tracked from a legal transaction. Gifted funds from a friend does not legalize the source of funding. We need to prove to US CIS how the friend was able to obtain the EB 5 funds through a legal source.

***Andrew P. Johnson, a New York Immigration Lawyer, practices immigration law and has litigated immigration cases throughout the country. His office handles all immigration issues and problems. The Law Offices of Andrew P. Johnson has submitted proposed regulations for Congress in order to help streamline the USCIS. In addition, Andrew P. Johnson, has been invited to speak in front of United States ambassadors and United Nations ambassadors regarding all aspects of immigration law. The law office can reach for comments regarding Immigration Reform at 212.693.3355 or apjlaw@gmail.com.

A: We have done numerous O-1 visas, and USCIS is often much more flexible on this visa than they are with other work visas. However it comes down to the quality of the recommendation letters. In addition, secondary evidence such as articles about you, any type of awards or prestigious invitations within your industry, pictures of prestigious salons using your hair styles as advertisements. (These are just ideas and not mandatory)

So what we would like on our side is for you to write a resume, and list the secondary evidence that you can eventually produce. In addition, the possible recommendation letters you can get, we just need their name their job title, and a couple of sentences which demonstrate that they have some expertise or some influence in the field.

With that we can do in an evaluation regarding the potential success of your O-1 visa case.

***Andrew P. Johnson, a New York Immigration Lawyer, practices immigration law and has litigated immigration cases throughout the country. His office handles all immigration issues and problems. The Law Offices of Andrew P. Johnson has submitted proposed regulations for Congress in order to help streamline the USCIS. In addition, Andrew P. Johnson, has been invited to speak in front of United States ambassadors and United Nations ambassadors regarding all aspects of immigration law. The law office can reach for comments regarding Immigration Reform at 212.693.3355 or apjlaw@gmail.com.

With immigrant visas and naturalization, U.S. CIS will issue a receipt notice for the various filings, and then issue an additional receipt notice scheduling a fingerprint appointment. The applicant then must go to a specific location and be fingerprinted. This appears simple enough; however, the U.S. CIS has backlogs and confusion on numerous cases based on a lack of fingerprinting or expired prints. Some of the problems and delays that occur are: the applicant’s file maybe held or lost while new fingerprints are taken; a case may never get an interview because the fingerprints were never completed or expired; or the U.S. CIS mailed the fingerprint notice to the wrong address. Thousands of U.S. CIS cases are backlogged and delayed per year based on lack of fingerprints or expired fingerprints.

Proposed Process

Presently, the U.S. CIS Web site allows an applicant to check his or her case status online. The applicant inputs his or her EAC number and can find out if the case is pending, approved, or denied. The U.S. CIS should add a section that shows fingerprints status: “Fingerprinting completed” (together with the expiration date of the fingerprints), or “Fingerprinting not completed.” If the fingerprints are not completed, expired, or soon to expire, the applicant should have the option of scheduling a new fingerprint appointment online and pay a $25 fee by credit card. The applicant would print out the new fingerprint appointment online. This allows applicants to be proactive in their cases and will reduce backlogs based on lack of prints or expiration of prints. U.S. CIS will have fewer continuances, rescheduling, and delays based on expiration of fingerprints.

Positions that require at least a Master’s degree and have a Specific Vocational Preparation [hereinafter SVP] code of 8 or higher and which are to be filed by an alien who has a U.S. Master’s degree or higher should be automatically exempt from the PERM requirement. The Department of Labor created SVP codes with 9 levels. The employer would file directly with the U.S. CIS an I-140 Petition and Wage Determination. The employer would also be required to pay an additional $2,500 fee to the U.S. CIS which could be used to create higher education scholarship funds or training for U.S. workers.

The PERM process is burdensome and unnecessary for industries that have a clear shortage of applicants with a specific skill set. Moreover, the Department of Labor will have fewer applications for the PERM Process while still controlling the application process for permanent residency as the Department of Labor can continually adjust the “short list” of skilled jobs needed in the U.S. economy.

This chapter will primarily focus on obtaining permanent residency via Program Electronic Review Management [hereinafter PERM] certification process for skilled workers, professionals, and advance degree holders. Currently, (other than National Interest Waiver Cases) any such PERM case must be first certified by the Department of Labor. This process can take several months and often costs thousands of dollars in advertising and other fees.

We would have the Department of Labor to issue an annual list of occupations that have been clearly recognized as in “short demand” for each state. The list would also include the Department of Labor’s findings on what the minimum requirement for the position should be as well as the minimum wage. As these occupations would be recognized by the Department of Labor as in demand, the standard labor certification process of pre-advertising and wage requirement would be omitted.